Stem for cocks

ABSTRACT

A sleeve-stem, particularly for a gas cock with a valve provided, which is formed from sheet-metal rolled round and comprises a stop catch for securing the stem to a valve of a cock and an elastic tongue which impedes the extraction of the stem from the cock.

United States Patent Mazza 1 Apr. 25, 1972 s41 STEM FOR COCKS 2,972,2622/1961 Kunzl er 251/96 x 2,980,386 4/1961 Reinhart et al. ..251/96 1lnvenwfi Lambert Mam, Pordenone, Italy 3,071,341 1/1963 Wantz et a1....251/96 Assigneez Indusri A. Zanussi SIP'A" non Zarybnicky X ItalyFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [221 12,1969 79,328 10/1955 Netherlands..251/96 [21] Appl. No.: 884,762

Primary Examiner-Samuel Scott Anorney-Holman & Stern [30] ForeignApplication Priority Data Dec. 14, 1968 Italy ..25105 [57] ABSTRACT Asleeve-stem, particularly for a gas cock with a valve pro- [52] U.S.Cl..25l/96 vided, which is formed from sheet-metal rolled round and [51]Int. Cl ,.,F16k31/60 comprises a stop catch for securing the stem to avalve of a [58] Field of Search ..251/96 cock and an elastic ng h h impes the x raction of Q the stem from the cock. [56] References cued 4Claims, 4 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,572,507 10/1951Mueller ..25l/96 PATENTEUAPR 2 5 I972 sum 1 BF 2 INVENTOR l'qmei'erbmflzz n ATTORNEYS This invention relates to a substantially tubularsleeve-stem on to which are secured hand control knobs for cocks, inparticular for gas taps, thermostats etc.

Stems of conventional type are usually constructed by machining toremove material, and starting from bars of various materials (brass,iron etc).

The machining operations carried out are those of turningv and milling,for which in case of a large number of pieces be produced specialmultiple operation machines are employed which require particularsetting up and continuous maintenance of the cutting tools. Consequentlythese pieces are relatively costly. The object of this invention ishence that of providing stems of considerably lower cost than the turnedstern already commercially available. This object is attained by asheetmetal stem, in particular for gas taps and thermostats, which isconstructed from one piece of plate rolled round.

Further characteristics of the invention will be clear from thefollowing description made with reference to the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a sleeve-stem constructed according to theinvention assembled on the valve of a gas tap;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the surface development of said stem;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the sleeve-stem alone;

FIG. 4 is a lateral elevational view of it.

The stem in object generically indicated by the reference numeral ischaracterized by being formed from a substantially rectangular piece ofplate suitably pressed and successively rolled into tubular form.

The stem comprises a stop catch 11 and appendices 12 on the edge of thecircumference at one end.

An elastic stop tongue 13 is formed on the lateral surface of the stem,as will be explained hereinafter, in a central position corresponding toan opening 14.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 4 it is to be noted that the longitudinaledges of the pressed piece comprise two opposing symmetrical sections15, 16, which are staggered one to the other such that they form a slit17 on mating when the piece is rolled into tubular form (FIG. 4).

An opening 18 is formed on the stem in a position opposed to theslit 17and symmetrical with it so as to confer a certain amount of elasticityon the stem.

A tooth 19 and a corresponding recess 20 into which said tooth fits inorder to avoid elastic deformation of the stem are formed in positionscorresponding to the two sections 16 of the longitudinal opposed edgesof the shaft.

FIG. 1 clearly shows the assembly of the stem according to the inventionon the valve of a gas tap, the assembly being carried out by means of acap 21, provided with a flange 25, and into which the stem 10 isinserted, said flange being secured to a corresponding flange on the tapitself.

The stop catch 11 engages in a cavity 22 of said cap 21 when the tap isin the closed position (catch drawn with a broken line) while when thetap is in the open position the catch is in contact with an annularsurface 23 of the cap. Movement of the stem between the open and closedpositions of the tap is opposed by the action of the bias of a spring 24I with its opposing ends inserted over the appendices 12 of said stemand in an annular hollow 5 in the valve seat respectively.

The elastic stop tongue 13 impedes extraction of the stem 10 from thecap 21 after it has been inserted into said cap.

Such a construction presents advantages which can be thus summarized:

reduction in cost with respect to stems of conventional type formed frombars;

as the stem is provided with a certain elasticity in the zone where thehand control grip is fitted, this latter can be secured in a morereliable manner, at the same time allowing a greater machining tolerancefor its hole, and without the need for fixing screws;

it 18 possible to assemble the stem on the cover in a more easy manner,as it is provided with an elastic tongue which impedes its withdrawalafter it has been inserted in the cap (in conventional shafts fixing ofa stop ring is necessary for impeding withdrawal);

in the case of gas taps with minimum central adjustment in whichlongitudinal boring of the stem is necessary to give access to theadjusting screw, boring operations (as in the case of those formed frombars) are here unnecessary in that by virtue of the thickness of platecomprising the stern a hole is formed which permits easy access to theadjusting screw.

What we claim is:

l. A valve-control cock comprising a valve-control cock body, valvemeans to control a fluid flow from an inlet to an outlet, and a sleevestem which includes: an unitary sheetmetal tubular body with open ends;an integral radial projection at a first end of the tubular body toengage a complementary recess in the valve-control cock body to limitaxial movement of the tubular sheet metal body in the valve-control cockbody in assembly; at least one longitudinal slit formed at a second endof the tubular body remote from said first end, whereby, said slit endis rendered resilient and adapted to receive a control-knob; and anintegral resilient elongated tongue formed in the sheet metal of thetubular body and disposed longitudinally intermediate between said firstand second ends of the tubular body, the tongue having a free endpointing in the direction of the first end and biased radially outwardsto engage a portion of the valve control body so as to impede withdrawalof the sleeve stem in the direction of said first end from its assembledposition in the valve-control cock body.

2. The valve-control cock as claimed in claim 1, the sleevestem of whichcomprises two slit regions at said second end, diametrically opposed toeach other, of which one at least is formed at a longitudinal joint ofthe sleeve-stem.

3. The valve-control cock as claimed in claim 2, the sleevestem of whichfurther comprises at least one integral lug circumferentially projectingat a region of said longitudinal joint near said first end and acomplementary recess in a mating portion of the sheet metal toaccommodate said circumferentially projecting lug to prevent deformationof the sleevestem.

4. The valve-control cock as claimed in claim 3, which further includesspring means to bias movement of the tubular body in an axial directionthereof.

1. A valve-control cock comprising a valve-control cock body, valvemeans to control a fluid flow from an inlet to an outlet, and a sleevestem which includes: an unitary sheet-metal tubular body with open ends;an integral radial projection at a first end of the tubular body toengage a complementary recess in the valve-control cock body to limitaxial movement of the tubular sheet metal body in the valve-control cockbody in assembly; at least one longitudinal slit formed at a second endof the tubular body remote from said first end, whereby, said slit endis rendered resilient and adapted to receive a control-knob; and anintegral resilient elongated tongue formed in the sheet metal of thetubular body and disposed longitudinally intermediate between said firstand second ends of the tubular body, the tongue having a free endpointing in the direction of the first end and biased radially outwardsto engage a portion of the valve control body so as to impede withdrawalof the sleeve stem in the direction of said first end from its assembledposition in the valve-control cock body.
 2. The valve-control cock asclaimed in claim 1, the sleeve-stem of which comprises two slit regionsat said second end, diametrically opposed to each other, of which one atleast is formed at a longitudinal joint of the sleeve-stem.
 3. Thevalve-control cock as claimed in claim 2, the sleeve-stem of whichfurther comprises at least one integral lug circumferentially projectingat a region of said longitudinal joint near said first end and acomplementary recess in a mating portion of the sheet metal toaccommodate said circumferentially projecting lug to prevent deformationof the sleeve-stem.
 4. The valve-control cock as claimed in claim 3,which further includes spring means to bias movement of the tubular bodyin an axial direction thereof.